WSD implements training by The Flippen Group for educator development, student leadership

Flip Flippen, founder and chairman of The Flippen Group, partners with WSD to assist young students in building skills for academic success, personal development and future careers. He is shown conducting a group activity for Windham Title I students in Navasota.

Capturing Kids Hearts (CKH) training by The Flippen Group was recently implemented by Windham School District for staff and students striving for educational achievement and positive life challenges for the district’s youngest students. CKH focuses on teachers building relationships with students, providing them with a safe environment in which to learn, and developing a dialogue for team-building.

CKH is described by The Flippen Group as "an immersive, participatory experience. It offers teachers, staff and administrators the opportunity to learn and practice skills they will use and model in their classrooms, schools and districts." CKH teaches participants how to build productive relationships with students and colleagues; how to develop self-managing, high-performing classrooms using team building skills and a Social Contract and how to deal with conflict, negative behavior and disrespect issues.

A conversation on teamwork is led by Flip Flippen with WSD students during leadership training at the Luther Unit. Self-management of behavior and soft skills for employability are some of the topics included in the training.

CKH was introduced to WSD in a three-day Title I staff training conference in Belton in May. Teachers, principals and administrative staff from throughout WSD learned techniques designed to strengthen student connectedness to others. This was done by teaching students how to build and maintain healthy relationships; provide consistent rules of conduct with reduced disciplinary escalations and referrals; reduce negative behaviors; increase job satisfaction among teachers and increase teacher retention and improvement in teacher recruiting.

WSD Title I teacher Casey Brakebill of the Torres Unit said CKH benefited participants by giving them parameters for treatment of each other as professionals.

"My plan is to create and enforce a Social Contract in my Title I classes," she said. "This training is important because it will facilitate teaching proper behavior to students, and they will then be able to focus on academics. For me as an educator, it helps create a self-managing classroom. For the students, it gives them a clear outline of what is expected of them."

"Capturing Kids training was phenomenal," Title I teacher Isabel Figueroa said. "It is a highly effective classroom management tool that I immediately implemented in my classroom at Dominguez State Jail. Students have responded positively to the use of the Social Contract and also to the signals used to gain their attention and maintain active student engagement."

Figueroa said her Title I class compared CKH’s Social Contract to the 17 Essential Workplace Skills, which "created a greater interest for practical use of the contract in the classroom."

In addition to working with The Flippen Group, WSD educators used meeting time to conduct professional development in differentiated instruction, student goal-setting and preparing students for their school-to-work transition.

Flip Flippen, founder and chairman of The Flippen Group, also began a workshop leadership series with young offenders at the Luther Unit in May. Focusing on teamwork, self-management of behavior, positive communication, employability soft skills, and positive self-advocacy, Flippen will work with WSD students and Principal LeeEtta Clabron in 10 workshop sessions to assist young students in building skills needed for academic success, personal development and future employability.

Capturing Kids’ Hearts training was provided by The Flippen Group for WSD correctional educators to help develop self-managing, high-performing classrooms. WSD teachers, principals and administrative staff met for three days in Title I staff training in Belton.

"I am having an amazing time with these young men," Flippen said. "They are bright, capable and fully engaged, and I am looking forward to more time together in the future. They are earning their course credit for sure."

"We have been very pleased to have Mr. Flippen come to our school and work with our students," WSD Principal LeEtta Clabron said. "As a result, they are now self-managing their behavior at the Luther Unit, holding themselves accountable and acting like leaders."

The Flippen Group is one of the largest educator training companies and one of the fastest growing leadership organizations in North America. Flippen began his career working with gang kids, and in the process, he built an outpatient clinic and 500-acre residential treatment facility for boys. His book, The Flip Side, has been published in nine languages and is a New York Times and USA Today best seller. He and his wife Susan, who is The Flippen Group’s CEO, reside on their ranch in College Station.

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"The WSD shall not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, or disability in its educational programs, services, or activities. No qualified disabled student shall, on the basis of disability, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or otherwise be subjected to discrimination in conjunction with any WSD program. The WSD shall ensure that a lack of English language skills will not be a barrier to admission or participation in all educational and vocational programs.”

For further information contact Division of Instruction, (936) 291-5335